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Blades (Skyrim)
Blades are a faction of former protectors of the Emperor of Tamriel. In the First Era, however, Blades took the role of Dragon hunters. Now, after return of Alduin and the rest of the Dragons, Blades can take on this role again. After the events of Oblivion Crisis and the Great War the oder of Blades had fallen into a great disrepair. Few remaining remnants of this once glorious order have gone into hiding and are being persecuted by the Thalmor after their near extermination by the Aldmeri Dominion. Background The Blades where originally members of the Dragonguard in Akavir in the First Era. they arrived in Tamriel to search for a Dragonborn. They eventually ended up swearing fealty to Reman Cyrodiil,The Book of the Dragonborn who they saw to be the Dragonborn. While a few openly served as the Emperor's bodyguards, most served as agents throughout the Empire, doing the bidding of the Emperor. Events in . The Blades oath was only to serve the Emperor himself, and not to be an arm of the Empire. Dialog with Jauffre After the death of Uriel Septim VII, the Blades lost their purpose. Without Dragons to hunt and no Dragonborn Emperor on the throne, they had no goal but to look for a Dragonborn to follow. They shut themselves away in their forts, no longer openly serving the empire. They began looking for a new Dragonborn to protect and serve. Fourth Era During the fourth era, the Blades no longer held in public roles in the empire. While they still were loyal to the Empire, the Emperors were now protected by the Penitus Oculatus and they were still looking for clues as to where the Dragonborn could be found. At some point, the Blades began a secret war with the Aldmeri Dominion, who was growing into a threat that would soon affect the empire. They became such a threat that when the Dominion sent an ambassador to Titus Mede II with a list of demands, one of them was the disbandment of the Blades. After the Emperor turned down the list of demands, he was presented with the severed heads of the Blade agents that where working in the Summerset Isles and Valenwood.The Rise and Fall of the Blades Many members of the Blades consider the 30th of Frostfall, 4E 171, the day the heads were presented, as the day the Great War truly started. During the War, the Thalmor no longer had to be secret with their war and went on the full offensive fighting the Blades. Most of the Blades were killed during the next five years, many died fighting in the war, while other were hunted down and killed in their homes. By the end of the war, all of their bases (like Cloud Ruler Temple in Cyrodiil) had been sacked and their defenders killed. The surviving Blades then went into hiding hoping to escape the wrath of the Thalmor, who made it a goal to exterminate the remaining Blades as an example. Members While most of the Blades died during the Great War, a few managed to escape Thalmor, but are still being hunted down by them. While it is unknown exactly how many Blades are still left alive, there are three known Blades who made it into Skyrim. Delphine Delphine is the acting Grandmaster of the Blades, one of the last remaining members operating in Skyrim. She is in her late 50's and is a high-priority target for the Thalmor. ? During the Great War, she evaded attempts at her life several times. She returned to Skyrim, remaining alert to the surveillance of the Thalmor.Thalmor Dossier: Delphine In an attempt to cover up her tracks Delphine now owns the Sleeping Giant Inn in the small town of Riverwood. Esbern Esbern is a Blade Archivist. ? He has been monitoring the ancient prophecies of Tamriel and had predicted the return of the Dragons under Alduin, the Nordic God of Destruction, whose return would lead to the destruction of Nirn. ? As an Archivist, he knows a great deal about the nature of the Dragon Threat in Skyrim. As well as other Blades, he is being persecuted by the Thalmor and is very cautious. ? He is first found hiding in the Ratway? sewers beneath the town of Riften. Acilius Bolar Acilius is the only known survivor of the siege on Cloud Ruler Temple. ? After his escape he left for Skyrim hoping to hide from Thalmor. ? He was, however, cornered and killed in Bloated Man's Grotto.Bolar's Writ His Oathblade can be found there next to his writ. Interactions Upon completing the quest Bleak Falls Barrow for Whiterun's court wizard, Farengar Secret-Fire , the Dovahkiin returned to see his acquaintance, and source of his information about the Dragonstone, a woman named Delphine. Later, during the attempt to retrieve the Horn of Jurgen Windcaller, only a note was found, explaining that the horn had been taken and is being held at the Sleeping Giant Inn in Riverwood. The note-writer went on to say that they may know why the dragons are rising, and they needed the Dovahkiin's help to stop another dragon from resurrecting. At the Inn, it was revealed that it was Delphine took the horn. However, she needed proof that the Dovahkiin was who they said they were, by slaying a dragon and absorbing its soul. They then traveled to Kynesgrove and killed the newly resurrected dragon, Sahloknir. Delpine went on to explain that she was one of two surviving members of the Blades within Skyrim, herself and a man Esbern, the Blades Archivist, a tome keeper and dragon expert for the Blades prior to the downfall of the Blades and destruction of its records by the Aldmeri Dominion . After the completion of the storyline and the slaying of Alduin and optionally, Paarthurnax , Esbern will continue to inform the Dovahkiin of dragon sightings that need to be investigated. However, if the Dovahkiin chooses not to kill Paarthurnax, they will not be able to remain an active member of the Blades. Restoring the Blades After completing the quest to kill Paarthurnax, talk to Delphine and she will speak about restoring the Blades. She will ask the player to recruit three followers to join the Blades. Note that this is possible even if the player completes the main quest without killing Paarthurnax, which causes the Paarthurnax Quest to disappear from the menu, and then kills Paarthurnax after the ending. The Paarthurnax Quest will reappear with talking to Delphine as its next objective. She will also give the quest once Sky Haven Temple has been found. The player may bring a maximum of three followers to Delphine to have them inducted into the Blades; they will receive Blades Armor. As more followers are recruited into the order, the temple slowly upgrades as people begin to populate the area. After recruiting all three Blades members, the player gains the opportunity to hunt dragons with a selectable party. Speak to Esbern to get the miscellaneous quest to hunt a dragon. Esbern can also give the Dragonborn the Dragonslayer's Blessing effect. Members inducted into the Blades may still be followers. Membership in the Blades is more beneficial for some than for others. Take into account that all Blade Armor is heavy armor. Generally it is a good idea to recruit individuals with existing talents in these disciplines in order to maximize their potential. The various Housecarls all make excellent recruits if the player can stand to have their default armor replaced with Blades Armor. Correspondingly, stealthy followers such as are generally not the best to recruit. However, at least one good archery follower is recommended as much dragon fighting is done with a bow and arrow. Once three new members have been inducted into the Blades, Delphine will say to speak to Esbern, who has been studying ancient Dragon burial grounds. He will occasionally give the player and the three Blades that were recruited a quest to hunt a dragon at one of the burial grounds. After the first such mission, the Dragonborn gains the option of giving Esbern a dragon bone and dragon scale in exchange for a potionthatwillgivetheuserapermanent25% resistance to damage inflicted by dragon melee attacks. Related Quests *Bleak Falls Barrow (Quest) *The Horn of Jurgen Windcaller *A Blade in the Dark *Diplomatic Immunity *A Cornered Rat *Alduin's Wall *Season Unending *Paarthurnax (Quest) *Recruit followers (Quest) *Kill the Dragon-Recurring Recruits Recruits will be moved to the Sky Haven Temple. They may be used as followers at any time. This can be useful for followers like Kharjo who wander around Skyrim and do not stay in a fixed position, when not following the Dragonborn. Same goes for followers, who live in hard-to-reach places like Erandur who lives in Nightcaller Temple — spawn place for Frost Trolls and Ice Wraiths . The player can invite up to three Followers to the Blades. Once the last recruit is accepted by Delphine, the Dragonborn will receive a Miscellaneous Quest from Esbern that requires him/her to kill a Dragon, using the help of other Blades. It should be noted that most, although not all Followers can be recruited to the Blades. Trivia *Upon recruiting Mjoll the Lioness, Aerin will also be moved to the Sky Haven Temple. While he doesn't become a Blade, he does wander around the temple. His dialogue is unchanged. *If the Dragonborn has quests for the College of Winterhold and recruits any of the mage apprentices (J'zargo, Onmund, or Brelyna Maryon) to the Blades, they will have their questline-related dialogue in place of the Blades dialogue. This persists through quest completion. Bugs *Should any of the three recruits die, they cannot be replaced. *Esbern will give the player miscellaneous quests to go dragon hunting with fellow Blades members, but the quest will be impossible to complete if the dragons in these locations have already been killed and the Blades members will just become stuck there. They may be able to return after the dragon is killed as they are waiting for it to be killed. Appearances * * * * References Category:Skyrim: Factions Category:Skyrim: Blades